There are many things we are missing in the baseball world in 2020 and one of those is the emergence of the young Seattle Mariners rising star, Justin Dunn. Dunn’s story is one of many athletes who grow up with a chip on their shoulders throughout their career, but all are unique in their own way. One common theme between these athletes is the ability to overcome adversity, when shit hits the fan in the worst way possible way and everyone tells you that you can’t succeed, you continue to put one foot in front of the other and push on. It’s this ability, that separates you as an athlete. It’s extremely easy in difficult times to give in. Give in to that fear that you are not good enough. Give in to the critics that tell you that you will never make it. But I promise you, as Dunn expresses in the video, all that work through the years, all the countless hours put in, all the negativity and failures you endured, is all worth it for that moment when you finally make it to the highest level.
Even at an early age, it was as if the deck was stacked against Dunn, who was never really the tallest player. Baseball is a game a lot about projectability, usually bigger frames and taller players have a better chance of being developed than smaller players. But the beauty of baseball is that it does not discriminate against your age, weight, height or skin color. Your game can do the talking. With that being said, smaller players tend to get looked down upon by scouts and it creates a steeper path for them to becoming successful. Dunn credits his father for seeing the potential early on his baseball career. It was this small support group, between his parents and his younger brother that continued to lift him up. As a player who would be throwing in championship games early on in his baseball career, it hurt Dunn as he continued to play that bigger and stronger players were being put in his place. This is was drove him to keep playing and instilled that mindset that hard work can beat talent. He used that as motivation to fuel his passion and desire to continuously work harder because the further you go, the more adversity you are going to face. This mindset that was instilled early on his career allowed Dunn to continue to persevere and work hard even in the darkest of times.
There Is No Backup Plan
Dunn’s father mentions a story of how when they would go to family functions when he was younger, they would bring their baseball gloves and play catch. His father mentions that everyone would always remind him to make sure Dunn has a backup plan incase baseball doesn’t work out. Because to most people, Dunn didn’t have a chance. Dunn’s mindest forever on was, “there is no backup plan.” He implanted it in his brain, he had one mission and no person or obstacle was going to get in front of his dreams. Dunn set a goal that he was going to get drafted in the first round and during the 2016 MLB draft, he was selected 19th overall by the New York Mets out of Boston College. Dunn was finally taking the first steps to realizing his dreams. Dunn followed Pete Alonso straight into the High-A ball in the Florida State League, but that’s where things started to spiral for him. He seemed to lose who he was as a player and continuous failures distanced his love for the game. It’s important to note that pitchers pitch every certain amount of days, so after a bad outing, you have to sit there for three or four days and think about what happened. Whereas position players get multiple opportunities to overcome their failures. If you don’t make the most out of your few opportunities you aren’t going to play.
When you start to get knocked around and take those punches it becomes easier for the doubt to creep into your mind. All those critics voices in your past that have told you that you will never make it, become a little louder. Dunn just lost himself for a bit during these times and was reminded by his mother that he has always had it in him. He is still the same kid who toed the mound in little league, to prep school, to college, to the bigs. Nothing has changed, he has always had the chips stacked against and has had to overcome it. This time was no different, he was born to do this. It’s that small support group of his family that reassured Dunn just who he was and what his purpose in life is. On December 3rd, 2018, the Mets traded Dunn along with, Jay Bruce, Jared Kelenic, Anthony Swarzak, and Gerson Bautista to the Seattle Mariners for Edwin Díaz, Robinson Canó and 20 million dollars. In his 2019 campaign with the Arkansas Travelers he went 9-5 with a 3.55 ERA in 25 starts. He later played in the 2019 All-Star futures game. After his minor league season Dunn’s pitching coach told him that he was going to be sent up to the bigs. Ecstatic and in tears he called his mom and dad to tell them the great news. Dunn expresses that there were little moments from stretching, to long toss, to warming up in the bullpen, to the pre-game warmup, to toeing the rubber that hit him that his dream has finally become a reality. But once he threw his first pitch it’s back to who he always was, a kid, just throwing a baseball. A player that no matter what was thrown at him, he continued to push forward. Dunn would finish the season with a 2.70 ERA, two hits, five strikeouts in 4 games started and looks to be an integral part of the Mariners starting rotation in the future.
The Washed Up Athlete 